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Henri Matisse Paper Cutouts

In the 1930s, when French artist Matisse was in his 60s, he began to develop a technique he termed "drawing with scissors." After hand-painting sheets of paper, he would cut them up and paste them together to achieve illustrations. In a comprehensive showing, 58 of these cutouts have been assembled, including the paper maquettes (L'Arbre de Vie) for the stained-glass windows Matisse designed for the chapel at Vence. The exhibit opens at Washington's National Gallery on Sept. 10, then moves to Detroit in November and St. Louis in late January.